LOS ANGELES — Federal prosecutors on Friday launched a
significant crackdown on commercial marijuana operations in California,
announcing legal action against several marijuana operations as part of
a new statewide enforcement effort.
According to a
statement, the action focused in part on an Orange County building
“that houses eight marijuana stores and a trafficking ring that sold
marijuana at its San Fernando Valley storefront, and sent marijuana to
customers as far away as New York state.”
Additionally,
six people were charged in alleged marijuana trafficking in an
operation that authorities said generated $15 million in eight months.
Officials also issued warning letters to operators of 38 marijuana stores.
It
is important to note that for-profit, commercial marijuana operations
are illegal not only under federal law, but also under California law,”
said U.S. Attorney Andre Birotte Jr. in statement. “While California law
permits collective cultivation of marijuana in limited circumstances,
it does not allow commercial distribution through the store-front model
we see across California.”
The announcement came
after reports Thursday that federal prosecutors are threatening to shut
down medical marijuana dispensaries throughout California, sending
letters that warn landlords to stop sales of the drug within 45 days or
face the possibility that their property will be seized and they will be
charged with a crime.
The stepped-up enforcement
escalates the Obama administration’s efforts to rein in the spread of
pot stores, which accelerated after the attorney general announced in
2009 that federal prosecutors would not target people using medical
marijuana in states that allow it.
“It’s coming
out of left field as far as we’re concerned,” said Joe Elford, the chief
counsel for Americans for Safe Access, which advocates for medical
marijuana use. “I really don’t know what inspired this. It’s a complete
about-face from what (Obama) said when he was campaigning.”
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